Report on Introduction to art and literature in Renaissance

禹洁

Common features of art in Renaissance：

The most important feature is humanism. This includes one's perception，one's beliefs，one's sexuality，and one's worldview. The works of this period demanded the breaking of feudal theocracy and the breaking of feudal asceticism. Break the blockade of the feudal system on people's spirit and even the body. Renaissance art is marked by a gradual shift from the abstract forms of the medieval period to the representational forms of the 15th century. Subjects grew from mostly biblical scenes to include portraits，episodes from Classical religion，and events from contemporary life. Human figures are often rendered in dynamic poses，showing expression，using gesture，and interacting with one another. They are not flat but suggest mass，and they often occupy a realistic landscape，rather than stand against a gold background as some figures do in the art of the Middle Ages. Renaissance art from Northern Europe emphasized precise detail as a means of achieving a realistic work.

Common features of literature in Renaissance：

In the 13th century，Italian authors began writing in their native vernacular language rather than in Latin，French. Dante，Petrarch，and Machiavelli are notable examples of Italian Renaissance writers. Renaissance literature is characterized by the adoption of a Humanist philosophy and the recovery of the classical literature of Antiquity，and benefited from the spread of printing in the latter part of the 15th century.

the link between art and literature in Renaissance and the ones in ancient Greece and Rome

Although it has been a long time，the Renaissance is an event in which some of the advanced intellectuals of the emerging bourgeoisie，through the study of ancient Greek and Roman art and culture，propagating the humanistic spirit through literary and artistic creation. But what distinguishes the Renaissance from the ancient Greeks was that the core of the humanistic spirit was the idea of a human center rather than a deity to affirm human values and dignity. Therefore，the Renaissance art content became man and with the development of society paper，so a large number of excellent paintings appeared.

The gods and men in ancient Greek literature had free and unrestrained individualism，revelations and pleasures of life，and displayed an indomitable spirit in the face of difficulties. The powerless fate brought confusion and fear to the ancient Greeks and fostered their self-consciousness and individual spirit. In addition，they have inspired vigorous life in the struggle against fate. Ancient Greek literature shows the vivacity and beauty of human nature in the pursuit of the values of the present world，the contradiction between man and fate，and expresses the freedom，optimism and romance of human childhood. Life consciousness，humanistic consciousness and free ideas are the basic spirit of ancient Greek literature. It became a profound cultural and ideological change in many European countries in the 14th-16th century. It was a bourgeois anti-feudal and anti-religious cultural movement formed under the historical conditions of the disintegration of European feudal society and the germination of capitalism. It proclaimed the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of modern society. Humanistic thought reflects the characteristics of antagonism against medieval feudal thought everywhere. It uses man against God，preaches human rights，and opposes the divine right. During the Renaissance，religious and aristocratic literature continued to exist in various European countries，and folk poetry，legends，jokes，fables，plays and other literary works were popular. Most of these styles of literature were born in ancient Greece. The Renaissance inherited and spread the various types of literary works to other countries and became the mainstream of European literature at that time.

common features of art and literature in China at the same period，and compare the features with the ones in Renaissance：

During the Renaissance in Europe，China was in the Ming Dynasty.

In this period，Europe and China both experienced a great deal of realism.The search for literary and artistic works has created an unprecedented prosperity.Most literary and artistic works of this period in China were to expose the condemnation of feudal society，Which called for the liberation of human nature，praise freedom，and long for a good society.European literature during this period also focused on reality and humanism.The works of this period required the breaking of feudal theocracy and the fetters of feudalism on people's minds.

Three of China's four best-known works，"Water Margin"，"The Three Kingdoms"The Romance of West was all from the Ming Dynasty.All three works reflected the darkness of feudal society at that time.

"The Divine Comedy"，"Hamlet" and "Decameron" reflected the decline of the feudal aristocracy in Europe at that time and embody the humanistic thought.

In art，first performance in the Renaissance，the western painting art mainly Christian subjects to represent ordinary people rich inner expression，Chinese painting art is to express the author's feeling of description of objective object，this kind of emotion because of enjoying the experience，different region，different original tacit knowledge connotation of different thoughts are different. Secondly，the objects of western painting are the figures in concrete reality，which are representational. In Chinese painting，the specific images are changed through the artist's own emotions to make them more abstract.

In literature，the literature of the Renaissance were of a combative nature. At that time，novelists，poets，painters，architects and musicians all took humanism as their ideological weapon and pointed their fingers at the church and religious theology，the spiritual pillar of feudalism，which bravely challenged the theocracy ruling in the middle Ages. Secondly，set up the attention reality and the actual pragmatic spirit. At that time，Chinese literature，including poetry，prose，fiction，drama and other fields，gradually showed an overall upward trend. Moreover，it also advocates the liberation of individuality，asks to get rid of the bondage of etiquette and religion，affirms human's natural desire，attaches importance to the expression of real emotions and so on.

（作者單位：广东外语外贸大学南国商学院）